In my day job as a columnist for the FT, I have cast a skeptical and often irreverent eye on the world around me. I tend to try everything. Not because of that, but because they suspect that everyone in the group believes the same thing. I’ve often been labeled a “contrarian.” I once hosted a podcast series called “A Scetic’s Guide to Crypto.” My X history has the word “snark” in it. I understand.
So you might be surprised to hear some of the things I work on in my free time. I use the word “synchronicity” without any irony. I definitely swear as a psychic kinesiologist. I’m a member of an organization called “Sisters of the Sanitary Cloth” (both the description and our name are a bit tongue-in-cheek, but the latter is better than the former). I’m obsessed with an app called Co-Star. The app claims to provide “ultra-accurate” horoscopes generated by AI using data from NASA. (This was recommended to me by a senior colleague. I won’t reveal his name.) I write Morning Pages, a book proposed by Julia Cameron, author of the creativity bible, The Artist’s Way. I am, as you know, “doing my job.”
I’m tapping mainly to climb out of the wheel of doom
But how can someone so wary of consensus opinion and so passionate about the importance of truth and objectivity be so passionate about something that many of you would consider bogus? I think it’s very simple. I have an open mind. And while I believe in the value of reason and empiricism, I also argue that it is actually reasonable to explore alternative approaches to science, medicine, and life.
And so I found myself standing under the chandelier of a luxurious Edwardian suite at the Savoy Hotel, tears silently rolling down my cheeks, gently tapping my ‘eyebrow point’ with my fingertips. . “I feel like I’m on a hamster wheel of never-ending dates,” I repeat after my instructor as I tap out (we’ve already talked about how I feel, and she’s just guessing) (Not that we do). “I’m sick of it” — I move my fingertip down and tap the side of my eye. “Hmmm” – under my eyes. “Bleurgh” – under the nose. “I have a lot of dates” – under the bottom lip. “Too many dates!” — Collarbone. “But I’m ready to remain open to love” — on my head. “And I trust my intuition more and more every day” — back to the eyebrow point. etc.
Energy psychology practitioner Poppy Delbridge (left) and author Delbridge’s residence at the Savoy in London © Lewis Khan
My instructor is Poppy Delbridge, a former Warner Bros. executive. He decided to quit the world of entertainment television in 2018 and focus full-time on tapping, a primarily self-administered therapy that combines modern psychology and ancient Chinese medicine. A few months ago I decided it was time to meet the love of my life and I met her. I went into the “tasting session” feeling pretty suspicious and we spent most of the hour together in a state of deep, cathartic crying (she had this effect in all of her one-on-one sessions with me). ), and I left feeling like this: If I were floating in the air.
Now I tap it every day. I’m a tapoholic. Guided by Delbridge’s Rapid Tapping app and her book Tapping In, I’ve tapped on park benches, in saunas, on Greek islands, and in the bath. I completed her ‘Pivot into Power’ personal empowerment program (graduates include Caroline Rush, chief executive of the British Fashion Council, and Phil Mealy, co-author of The Royle Family). I once attended one of her “rapid retreats” (our group of five also included Delevingne’s sisters and a superfan who had flown in from the Caribbean). And I’m currently doing her “30 Day Love Cleanse”. This, like all Delbridge programs, involves not only tapping, but also quite intensive self-exploration and personal development work.
How to tap for 2 minutes
©Louis Kahn
Poppy Delbridge’s Guide to Rapid Tapping
Start
You can sit or stand comfortably.
Set an intention: Decide how you want to feel right now (calm, energized, focused).
Check your frequency level. Place your hands on your chest and notice how you feel right now. Rate yourself from +10 (high joy) to -10 (low energy or stress).
Take a breath.
Move your hands. Slide your hand a few inches below your collarbone and firmly massage the “pain spot” to balance and ground yourself.
Set your intentions.
1. “I feel…” Identify your current emotion.
2. “Because…” Acknowledge why you feel the way you do.
3. “But I can do it…”
quick tapping sequence
Use two fingers of both hands to tap these points, repeating the three-step answer.
1.Between the eyebrows
2. Side of the eye
3.Under eyes
4. Under the nose
5. Chin
6. Clavicle and heart area
7. Top of head
Finally, I hug my head and shake it off. Rub your hands together, place one hand on your forehead and the other behind your head, and hold for 10 seconds. Hug me and smile. Then shake your hands and body to readjust and refresh.
7 Day Rapid Reset is available as a video demonstration in the free app.
Tapping is a so-called “somatic” therapy, which focuses on the connection between mind and body. It has its roots in ancient Chinese medicine, but was invented by an American psychologist in the 1980s and simplified by one of his students in the 90s to become the “Emotional Freedom Technique.” EFT taps nine major “meridians” (acupuncture points also used in acupuncture) to release trapped energy from traumatic experiences stored in the body. Although some dismiss this as pseudoscience, Gary Bakker, a clinical psychologist and lecturer at the University of Tasmania, calls tapping “purple hat therapy” and says, “Tapping on imaginary meridians can be There is absolutely no evidence that it has any clinical effect,” he told me. “Psychological Issues” — There are studies that claim tapping may be a way to treat symptoms of depression, anxiety, PTSD, appetite, and even physical pain and autoimmune diseases.
And I find that the more I tap, the more it helps me solve problems, especially stress, lack of motivation, and lack of self-confidence.
Delbridge’s version, “Rapid Tapping,” focuses on the seven meridian points used by EFT, typically the “pain spot” (about an inch below the collarbone, which feels soft to the touch). It also includes an initial massage of the fleshy areas). Finish with a “Head Hug” (her app includes a how-to video). She wants to use tapping to “rewire neural pathways” to focus on the good in the future, rather than focusing on moving away from the bad in the past, as in traditional EFT . In other words, it means manifesting what you want in your life.
As far-fetched as this may sound, rest assured that there is no such thing as the apparently woo-woo brand of toxic positivity. What makes this practice so beneficial is the fact that every session begins with you saying out loud how you really feel, and if it’s negative, repeating it until the feeling starts to fade. That’s part of the reason why I think so. Not only does saying your negative feelings out loud make you feel less nervous, but some people may even start to feel a little silly once they’ve said it out loud.
Delbridge, Savoy, London © Lewis Khan
Most taps start by asking you to rate your mood (generally or on a specific issue) and end by asking you to rate again. There are days when emotions run high. Some days my mood changes completely within minutes. No matter what I’m doing, I feel like something is going right. I also sigh a lot when I tap. Others yawn too. “I joke that I’m the only speaker who doesn’t get angry when everyone in the audience is yawning,” says Nick Ortner, whose Tapping Solution app has more than 100,000 subscribers.
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“At the bare minimum, you’re resetting your nervous system to a non-combat sympathetic state, going from fight or flight to rest and relaxation,” says Delbridge, one of Delbridge’s clients who now taps almost every day. says neuroscientist Dr. Tara Swart. “People who are not used to a relaxed state of wakefulness may end up feeling drowsy.”
As for me, I may not have met the love of my life yet, but I can sigh and feel that since my first session with Delbridge in May, I have broken through many barriers, or “love blocks.” There is. I also spend a lot less time self-sabotaging and have better control over my emotions. I now use tapping as part of my morning routine, and sometimes at other times of the day, and find it similar to meditation in that it grounds me. However, it usually makes you feel more uplifted, motivated, and more focused. I hope that’s the case.
I swear, I felt like a fool, a fool. — The first time I did it, but lately, tapping my fingertips around my face and chest feels strangely natural. Give it a try, I say. What is the worst that can happen?